Introduction
by septasonicxx
Summary: My idea of how Reno came to being a Turk and Rude's partner. #1, 41 and 62 of the 100 themes challenge so far.
1. Chapter 1

The teenage boy spat his cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it with his shoe, grounding it into the dirt. His spiky red hair had been shoved into a ponytail, with some of the front bits sticking over his blue eyes. He stared at the door in front of him and then grinned, shoving it open and walking inside like he owned the place.

The room was crowded. People everywhere shoved past each other in order to move around and get to their own tables. They all chatted with their friends and laughter was the loudest thing that the teenage boy could hear above the talk.

He was at his first bar.

He was under age.

And he couldn't care less.

Making his way over to the front of the room, he managed to fit right in with the crowd as he shoved some people out of his way and shot dirty looks at people who refused to move. He sat on a stool at the bench and slammed his fist down, demanding attention from the bartender.

"What d'ya want?" The bartender drawled, raising an eyebrow at the scrawny kid perched on the stool.

"Something strong, yo." The teenager said, shifting back on his seat slightly to get a better look at everyone else in the room. The bartender moved off to get him a drink and soon set something in front of him.

"You gonna b'come a regular here?" he asked.

"Sure am, yo." The teenager nodded once, still letting his eyes wander around the room. He was taking in everything; the people, the layout, the stench, the noise; everything he could sense he was cataloguing in his mind for future reference.

"You got a name with 'at face?" The bartender moved to hand another drink to someone else and then turned back, tilting his head and waiting for an answer.

"Reno." The red-head turned to look at the bartender finally, his blue eyes piercing through him with an unspoken warning. In that instant, the bartender knew it would be a bad idea to mess with this boy.

"Nice t' meet ya." The bartender said, choosing that moment to walk off and pay attention to some other customers. Reno watched him shuffle away awkwardly and then continued observing the room. He would need to know where the escape routes were too.

Picking up his drink, he took a sip. The liquid burned his throat as it went down and he frowned slightly in distaste. But he had told himself he would go through with this and he planned on keeping to his silent promise. So he sipped some more and ignored the feeling it gave him, continuing to watch as people went about their business in the bar.

He felt a bit like an intruder, and it made him feel smug. No one could kick him out, because honestly no one cared about under age people drinking nowadays. He was safe in here, and he could find out secrets that his friends weren't brave enough to.

The door to the bar opened again, and in an instant Reno had stood up and started heading to the back with his drink in his hand. His heart leapt with excitement as he sat down at an empty table in the back corner and watched what was happening.

The Turks that had entered did not look friendly. In fact, they had come in with their weapons out and were now talking to the bartender with solemn expressions. Reno noticed that the room had gone quiet. The only sound now was the murmur of voices at the front of the room and a few coughs from the people sitting down. Everyone seemed to be waiting to find out what was going on.

Then the voices grew louder and Reno managed to hear a few words.

"We know he's here."

Reno took another sip of his drink and leant forward slightly, interested in what was going on. Who were they looking for? Some other people had started whispering and a word that was spoken near him caught his attention. _Avalanche_.

"I don't know who yer talkin' 'bout." The bartender shook his head and glanced around the room nervously. The Turk right across from him reached out and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground and shoving their faces close together.

"Tell me where he is or I'll kill you." he threatened. The bartender struggled, his fear evident in his eyes as he glanced towards the door at the side of the room which lead into the other rooms of the building.

"I don't-"

The man yelped and jerked around as the Turk holding him shoved his Electro-Mag Rod into his side. Reno's eyes widened in interest. That thing looked cool. Where would he be able to get one? Surely some underground group would have some.

"Perhaps you'd like to try again." The Turk brought his weapon back and waited, ignoring the room full of people that were witnessing this horrible scene.

"He's... he's upstairs." the bartender whimpered, slumping to the ground as he was let go. The Turks instantly headed towards the door which the bartender had glanced at before, intent on finding whoever it was they were searching for.

Before they could get there, the door opened and a man stood there, an unconscious girl in his arms.

"There he is! Grab him!" The Turk at the front of the group ordered, rushing forward and trying to grab the man. He slipped past, managing to get beyond some of the tables before he had to stop because of the weight of the girl. He now had a fair amount of people in between himself and the Turks.

"Leave us alone!" he yelled, angry.

"You know we can't do that. We have to stop you." The main Turk said, slowly stepping towards him. "Unless you come willingly, everyone in this room will die." With a simple hand signal, two Turks headed to the exit door to block it off.

Reno watched as the shoulders of the man slumped slightly in defeat. Who was he? And who was the girl he was carrying?

"You'd kill innocent people..." the man mumbled, shaking his head sadly.

"Their lives are in your hands." the Turk said sincerely. He reached to the nearest person and pulled them up into standing, shoving his weapon near them to re-enforce his words with actions. Their eyes were wide with fear, staring at the man pleadingly but too frightened to speak unless the Turk decided to kill him on the spot.

"If I come, will you leave her alone?" the man asked.

"No promises." the Turk smirked.

The man closed his eyes momentarily, trying to gather some more strength. He glanced around again then, his gaze lingering on the doors and windows. Reno could tell instantly what he was considering.

"I won't let you hurt her." the man said finally.

"Then it's her life for all the ones in this room." the Turk slammed the Electro-Mag Rod into his victims head and then dropped him, only glancing down to step over the lifeless body.

Reno downed the rest of his drink in a single gulp, feeling the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He was _not_ going to let these guys kill him. No way!

"You know, maybe you should just let 'em go, yo." Reno slowly rose to his feet, glaring at the Turk who was in charge. All eyes went to him and he smirked, reaching a hand up to push a bit of red hair back off his face.

"What's a kid doing in a bar?" the Turk asked, a look of disgust appearing on his face.

"Felt like it, yo." Reno replied, shrugging. "But let 'em go or you'll hafta go through me too."

The man holding the girl was also staring at Reno, his eyes wide in shock that this _kid_ was sticking up for him. Or maybe he was just so scared that he wasn't thinking about what it was he was doing and just wanted to save himself. Then again, there was also the possibility that he was drunk, seeing as he was at a bar.

Reaching under his suit jacket, the Turk in charge pulled out a gun. Reno's eyes lit up as he saw the extra danger that had been added to the situation.

"You gonna put a hole through me, yo?" Reno chuckled.

"If I have to." the Turk said simply. Reno slowly began making his way towards him, his smirk remaining firm on his face.

"Ya know, I don't like that idea. 'Cause it ends with me dying, yo." He shrugged again and then paused, having made it all the way to the man's side without actually being shot yet.

"You're crazy, don't make him mad." the man begged, obviously not wanting anyone to get hurt.

"My life, my choice." Reno said. "Who are you anyway, yo? Why d' they want you?"

"He's a member of Avalanche." the Turk said for the man.

"Dude, he's got a tongue. Let him talk." Reno snapped. The Turk narrowed his eyes and took yet another step forward.

"He's right. I'm part of Avalanche." the man said softly.

"And her? Who's she?" Reno asked. The man shifted uncomfortably and Reno sighed, shaking his head. "Forget it." he said.

"She's from ShinRa. This man kidnapped her and won't give her back." the Turk said, again answering for the man.

"They were torturing her!" the man exclaimed.

"You had no business in it!" the Turk took more steps forward.

"She would've died if I hadn't gotten her out of there! You people disgust me!" the man spat the words out and Reno noticed a fire in his eyes that had been extinguished before light up again.

"Sickos." Reno mumbled.

"I'm seriously thinking about shooting you." the Turk warned.

"Go ahead! I don't care one bit, yo!" Reno raised his eyebrows in a challenge and the Turk tensed his jaw, taking aim. He was _not_ going to be shown up by a _kid_!

"Sir, with all due respect." He turned angrily to look at who had spoken to him, and glared at the young bald man.

"What?" he snapped.

The bald man stepped forward. He couldn't be more than nineteen. "Would you like me to take him out for you?"

"Actually, I'd like to put a bullet through his head myself." the Turk replied angrily.

"Why don'tcha let baldy have a few minutes of fame, yo?" Reno chuckled again, staring at the bald man who was also staring at him.

"He takes orders from me." the Turk said.

"And you take orders from someone too. I don't really care, yo. Just let him have a go at me." Reno pressed on.

"Sir, I won't let you down." the bald man said.

"I'm not worried about that, you're the best man we've got!" the Turk said. "I just want to do it myself!"

"What, you're jealous? C'mon, just make your guys promise to say it was you, yo." Reno suggested, trying to be helpful. The Turk frowned and turned to the men standing right near him, whispering to them. Reno smirked and turned to the man beside him.

"What are you doing?" the man whispered.

"Gettin' you outta here, yo." Reno whispered back. "Now stop dawdling and get your butt over to that window. You'll have about five seconds."

"They'll see me." the man protested.

"I'll distract 'em." Reno said. "Just _go_."

The man glanced at the Turks again and then hurried over to the window, passing all the people who still sat at the tables.

"Hey! Stop him!" the main Turk fired a shot with his gun, but it connected with a plate that had been thrown at precisely the right moment, shattering in the air and raining down on the floor. Reno smirked and darted forward, another plate in his hand as he leapt at the Turk.

"Take this, yo!" he yelled as he smashed the plate over the man's head. He then jumped back and grabbed another object from a table, swinging his arm to throw it at another Turk. His arm stopped halfway, however, as it connected with someone's stomach. In that instant Reno thought he'd hit someone who'd simply been caught in the crossfire. Taking another look however, he was pleased to see that it was in fact the bald man.

"You should be more careful than that." Reno's happiness faded as he noticed the bald man seemed unaffected by the hit, and it disappeared altogether as his arm was twisted up behind him and his face was slammed down onto a table.

"Hey, let go!" Reno squirmed, trying to get free. The bald man was not letting go. "I'm just a kid! You win, yo!"

"I want him dead!" Brushing remains of the glass plate out of his hair, the Turk staggered over to them and shoved his gun against Reno's temple. "I want you dead. I'll have you dead. Do you hear me?"

Reno closed his eyes tightly, shuddering as the cold barrel of the gun was pressed harder against his head.

"He's just a kid."

"I want him dead!"

"He's just a kid."

"I'm gonna shoot him in the frickin' head!"

"He's a child. Like Liam."

Reno blinked his eyes open as he felt the gun leave his head, looking up at where the Turk was now staggering backwards, horror in his own eyes.

"My son... I was going to kill someone like my son..." he was muttering.

"You didn't." the bald man said.

"Shut up!" the Turk pointed a finger at his companion and then spun around, leaving the bar. The bald man allowed Reno to stand back up, but kept a firm hold on his arms.

"We'll take you back to ShinRa." he was saying. Reno blinked his eyes again and shook his head to clear his thoughts. What was going on? Why wasn't he dead? "They'll decide on your punishment then."

"Rude, hurry up!" The Turk's voice shouted from outside and the bald man pushed Reno out the door. "He's gonna be a Turk, Rude. Just like us."

"Sir?" Rude questioned, still holding Reno.

"If he hates us so much, then I'll have fun watching him hate himself. Come on!"

The Turks loaded up into their vehicle, with Rude sitting next to Reno in the back. Reno was still trying to figure out what was going on. Why was everything around him spinning?

Then he remembered the drink he'd had.

_Oh great. Just great, yo. At the most crucial moment I gotta have the effects of my drink kick in so I can't even escape. Great, yo._

The last words that Reno heard while he was in the back of the truck were the words of the Turk he'd hit with a plate. "You seem to control him pretty well, Rude. He can be your partner."


	2. Chapter 2

Teamwork

"Let go, yo!" Reno struggled, a frown fixed to his face as he tried to make his new acquaintance, Rude, let go of him.

"Please stop squirming." Rude said.

"Oh yeah, sure! Like I'm just gonna stop 'cause you said please, yo!" Reno snapped angrily, shoving his butt out behind him as he tried to wriggle backwards away from the tall bald-headed man. Rude quirked an eyebrow.

"I may have to incapacitate you." Rude warned.

"I'm sure that would have a better effect if I knew what it meant, yo." Reno replied, still intent on getting away. Rude sighed, rolling his eyes, and slammed one of his palms down on the back of Reno's neck.

The red-head slumped on his arm, now unconscious. Rude dragged him to the side of the room and sat him on a chair, slightly put-off that he'd had to knock out his new partner on their first day of working together.

"Rude, how's it-"

Maik was another Turk, though he had higher status than Rude did, and he paused after entering the room and seeing Reno passed out on a chair.

"Not well." Rude answered the cut-off question.

"I see." Maik said, observing the situation. "I heard he was pretty hard to handle..."

"He just needs to learn. He'll get it soon enough." Rude said.

"You sound pretty optimistic. Isn't he a nut case?" Maik asked. "I heard he defended someone who was part of Avalanche."

"Yes, that's correct," Rude nodded. "But that doesn't mean he can't learn to be one of us. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Good." Maik nodded slowly and then turned to leave. "Too bad you have to wait for him to wake up before trying anything else."

Rude watched as Maik left and then took a seat near his partner. The red-head looked strangely peaceful and harmless while he was asleep, but Rude knew better. This boy, Reno, was incredibly skilled.

What kind of a kid could calculate exactly when to throw a glass plate in order to stop a bullet from reaching its target? And certainly, that could have been a fluke, but Rude had seen the look of concentration on Reno's face right before he'd thrown it.

Rude also wondered about Reno's parents. What had they done when Reno hadn't come home last night? Did they know he'd been at a bar? Or perhaps he just didn't have any parents at all.

What had he been doing at that bar in the first place? Just looking for trouble, or was he working for someone else, hence the skills?

Rude shifted and sighed, annoyed that he had so many questions and no answers. One more glance at his partner proved he would not find out easily.

"Owww..." Reno whined, a hand going to the back of his neck as he slowly woke up. Rude remained motionless, waiting for the boy to completely wake up and notice him himself. "I so should'a seen that comin', yo." Reno muttered to himself.

Reno suddenly tensed, his eyes scanning the room in paranoia and then landing on Rude. He leapt to his feet, staggering slightly as his head tried to catch up with the movement, and then put his weight on the balls of his feet.

He was in a defensive stance. Rude was impressed.

"Before you decide to do something stupid again, let me explain to you what I have planned for today." Rude slowly stood up. "I'm going to give you a weapon to see how well you work with it, and I'm going to trust you not to harm _me_ with it. Do you understand?"

Reno scoffed.

"Sure, yo. Trust me all you want."

Rude narrowed his eyes, but pulled his own weapon from his belt loop and handed it to the red-head. Reno paused in slight shock that the man was _still_ trusting him even after what he'd said. But he took the weapon anyway and grinned when he saw it was an Electro-Mag Rod.

"If you'd like me to explain how to use it-"

Reno lunged at Rude, his new weapon held in front of him like he used it every day. Rude, however, didn't flinch until he heard the slight buzzing sound coming from it.

How on Gaia had Reno managed to turn on the _taser_?

Stepping out of the way swiftly, Rude managed to grab Reno's wrist in one hand and held it far away from his body. In a sudden instant there was a hot stinging on Rude's side and he hissed in pain, looking down to see Reno's body twisted in a strange way and with the Electro-Mag Rod now in his other hand.

The kid was quick.

Shoving Reno away from him, Rude tilted his head to study him. He had taken up a defensive stance again, a sneer on his face as he obviously thought he'd gotten the better of the experienced Turk.

"You managed to turn it on and you managed to get me. Good work."

Reno frowned, wondering why Rude wasn't angry at him for disobeying.

"You've got a lot of talent." Rude continued, turning and walking to the side of the room where another Electro-Mag Rod was leaning against the wall. He picked it up and faced Reno again, raising an eyebrow in a silent challenge.

"Well if you're gonna act like this, yo..." Reno trailed off, a smirk on his face again as he got ready to attack.

The two charged at each other and brought their weapons together, a loud 'clang' resounding in the room. Reno used the impact to push backwards and spin around, coming from a different angle and swiping at Rude's head.

The bald man ducked and shoved his weapon at Reno's stomach as he did so. He narrowly missed as the red-head jumped back.

"Almost had ya." Reno taunted.

The two circled for a while longer, glaring at each other, and then the door opened. Reno spun around to face who had entered and in the process his arm flung out behind him. He felt _and_ heard a thud.

"Ha! Got you, yo!" Reno rejoiced after having realised that it was only Rude he'd hit.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Rude rubbed his head carefully and looked over to where another Turk stood in the doorway with their Electro-Mag Rod in front of them defensively.

"Yes, thank you." Rude said, nodding his head once.

"Maik wanted to talk to you." the young Turk said.

"Tell him I'll be there soon." Rude sighed. He reached forward to grab Reno's shirt and pulled him away from the door so that he wasn't standing in between it and Rude any more.

"Yes, sir." The Turk glanced warily at Reno and then left, shutting the door behind him again. Rude released his grip on Reno's shirt and turned to face him.

"Good work." he said.

"Are you being paid to train me?" Reno asked suddenly. Rude frowned slightly but nodded, figuring the question was harmless enough. "Are they gonna pay me for workin' for them, yo?"

"I... would assume so." Rude said thoughtfully. He actually didn't know. But every other Turk was paid, so why shouldn't Reno be as well?

"Sweet." Reno had a grin on his face again.

"Are you going to co-operate now then?" Rude asked, raising an eyebrow. If it had simply been a matter of telling the kid he was getting paid, why hadn't he thought of it earlier?

"Probably not." Reno shrugged. "You're all a bunch of low-lifes, yo."

"I see." Rude said. "That's a shame."

"Yeah? You only want me working for you 'cause I'm good, I reckon, yo." Reno said simply. Rude considered what he was saying and then nodded.

"That's possible."

"Well, what if I wanna join Avalanche? What do you guys do to traitors, yo?" Reno was obviously trying to make them let him go.

"We torture them, usually." Rude's voice was impassive.

"Hmm." Reno frowned in thought.

His mind then chose that moment to remind him of what the bald man had done before at the bar, and he saw the scene in his mind's eye again.

Rude had saved him from being shot. Rude had stopped his _superior_ from shooting him.

"I don't get you guys, yo." Reno mumbled. "One minute you're all '_he's just a kid_' and the next you're like '_we torture them_'."

Rude shifted uncomfortably and shoved his Electro-Mag Rod through his belt loop again. With another sigh, he folded his arms.

"I've got a bit of a soft spot for kids, I guess you could say." he explained.

"You've got a soft spot for me?" Reno's face lit up eagerly, but by now Rude had clued in on Reno's expressions enough to know that he was looking for something to tease the man about later.

"I don't think children should be killed." Rude said firmly. "However, sometimes they do need to be punished."

"Are you a father?" Reno asked, his eyes still lit up mischievously.

Rude turned his head away and coughed. "No."

"Got the hots for someone though, ey?" Reno wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Rude rolled his eyes and considered for a moment lunging at the kid and tasering him to death.

"Are you comfortable using an Electro-Mag Rod?" Rude asked to change the subject. Reno raised an eyebrow and then looked down at the weapon in his hand.

"Is _that_ what this thing is called?" he asked. "If so, then yeah! I'm comfortable, yo!" He was grinning that annoying grin again.

"How did you turn on the taser before?" Rude asked curiously. Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, it's got a button on it. I figured it would be the taser, yo." he shrugged. Rude narrowed his eyes but nodded. That was understandable.

What _wasn't_ understandable was that so many new Turks in training had always taken ages to work the tasers when they first got given an Electro-Mag Rod.

"Maybe it won't be so bad being a Turk, yo." Reno said slowly, spinning his weapon in one hand absent-mindedly. He made it look like he'd been doing it all his life. "At least I'll get to pick on you." he grinned again, that annoying grin.

"Are you willing to co-operate then?" Rude asked.

"I guess." Reno shrugged. "But aren't I too young to be a Turk?"

"Usually we wouldn't accept people your age wanting to join. Seeing as it wasn't your choice in the beginning I believe it doesn't matter in this circumstance." Rude explained.

"Cool. I'm the youngest Turk, yo!" Reno beamed.

"Oh, President Shinra wanted to talk to you as well." Rude said as an after thought. Reno froze, his weapon swinging to point straight at the ground as he stopped twirling it.

"What?" he asked.

"President Shinra. He wants to talk to you." Rude smirked slightly at the boy's reaction.

"Do I get to taser him?" Reno asked.

"No."

"Then I don't wanna talk to him, yo." Reno turned away stubbornly, folding his arms.

"You don't have a choice." Rude said.

Rude walked closer to Reno and held his hand out, waiting patiently as the red-head glared up at him through his red bangs. Finally, Reno placed the Electro-Mag Rod in Rude's hand.

"The President will be pleased to see that you're co-operating so soon. We should go see him now." Rude suggested.

"Right now? Can't we wait a bit?" Reno whined.

"What exactly would we do while waiting?" Rude asked. "Besides, I also need to speak to Maik soon."

"Can't ya trust me to explore this place by myself while you talk to Maik, yo? Then when you're done there you can take me to the President." Reno shrugged.

"I don't think so." Rude shook his head.

"You're no fun, yo!" Reno whined again.

"If you say 'yo' one more time..." Rude muttered to himself. "Come on, I'll take you to the President and then we'll go find Martin."

"_We_? Why we?" Reno had a frown on his face once more.

"Because we're partners." Rude sighed.

"So?" Reno asked. He looked slightly disgusted by that thought.

"The more time we spend together, the better we'll work together. Now come _on_." Rude grabbed Reno's arm and headed for the door, ignoring the boy's complaints and squirms.

The last thing Reno did before Rude knocked him out again was snatch the Electro-Mag Rod from Rude's belt loop and shove it into his side, tasering him.

"This is going to be a long day." Rude muttered, shoving his weapon back into his belt loop and throwing Reno over his shoulder, carrying him towards the President's office.


	3. Chapter 3

Magic

Reno followed behind Rude, glaring daggers at the other Turks who had the nerve to glare at him first. Just because he'd helped out someone in Avalanche they all thought they were better than him, so Reno believed he had the right to glare at them back.

Rude glanced over his shoulder to make sure Reno was still following and then resumed watching in front of himself as he walked. He was sure that all the Turks who saw the two of them would consider him careless in letting the boy walk behind him, but he didn't think Reno was going to try anything.

"Seeing as you took to the Electro-Mag Rod incredibly quickly, I'm going to try you with something much more difficult." Rude explained, moving his head so that his words floated over his shoulder towards Reno.

"Joy." Reno said sarcastically.

Rude ignored the remark and led the boy through another door, having to swipe a card a few times to get in. He went over to a desk and mumbled something to the person sitting there. The person reached into a drawer and then held out a few keys which Rude took.

"What'd going on, yo?" Reno asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

"This way." Rude said. He set off through another corridor and soon brought Reno out into a large room holding three helicopters.

"Whoa." Reno stared around at the vehicles with wide eyes. "Are we going somewhere, yo?"

"Yes. And you're driving." Rude threw the keys to Reno and in a flash he'd brought his hand up, catching them.

"No way."

"Just get in." Rude said.

Blinking a few times in shock, Reno slowly made his way over to the closest helicopter, glancing to Rude for confirmation that it was the right one. Opening up the door, he climbed in and found himself sitting at a desk full of electronic equipment. Rude climbed in on the other side and began flicking switches.

"The key goes in there." Rude said, pointing to a slot. Reno nodded and inserted it, turning it once and listening with wide, excited eyes as the engine purred to life.

"This is amazing." Reno said. He glanced around at all the controls, finally settling to rest one hand on the joystick. It seemed to melt perfectly into the shape of his hand and he closed his eyes momentarily in the sheer bliss of it.

Rude was pulling out a walkie-talkie and said something into it. The roof instantly began rolling back on itself and Reno stared up out the side window at it.

"You honestly want me to fly this thing, yo?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Sweet." Reno grinned and examined the switches, choosing a few and flicking them. He pressed a button and did a few more things before finally reaching to press the button labelled 'propellers'.

"I'd feel much better if you used your seat belt." Rude said stiffly.

"There's a seat belt!?" Reno asked, shocked. He looked at it in disgust, but pulled it across and clicked it in place anyway. "It's a good thing I'm a Turk now, yo. I am going to get rid of these seat belts."

Rude shook his head slightly and was about to remind Reno to concentrate when the red-head fiddled with the switches a bit more and had the helicopter lift off the ground. What wasn't he good at?

"This is like child's play, yo!" Reno exclaimed as he manoeuvred the helicopter through the gap in the roof. "It's awesome!"

Rude raised an eyebrow, refusing to say anything in case he was a distraction and caused an accident. Besides, Reno seemed to be finding distractions fine by himself.

"Whoa, is the big red button like in movies? Do we blow up if I press it, yo?" Reno asked excitedly.

"No." Rude said.

"What happens? Can I press it?"

"It is in case of emergencies. Pressing the red buttons activates the ejector seats." Rude explained. Reno's eyes sparkled mischievously.

"So can I press it?"

"No."

"You're no fun, yo!" Reno whined. "But hey, where are we going?"

"Do you see the building over there?" Rude pointed to a tall building jutting out from the rest and Reno nodded. "Fly around it and come back. That's all I want you to do."

"Cool. I can do that." Reno grinned and arced the helicopter slightly to line it up with the building a bit better, setting out on a straight course for the target.

"You have remarkable talents." Rude commented.

"Thanks. It's my red-head pride, yo." Reno shot his partner a grin and then focused his eyes ahead again.

He didn't tell Rude, but flying a helicopter had been a dream of his ever since he was able to walk. He felt like he belonged up in the air surrounded by all the switches and buttons. It felt perfect to him. Like _magic_.


End file.
